2022 - What I did today

I trimmed back my squash plants and removed any yellowing or mildewed leaves. I have three Blue Hubbards, a Galeaux D'Eysines, two pumpkins but of such wildly different proportions that they are clearly not the same variety (at least one must be a Rouge Vif D'Etampe pumpkin) and two small round (but different) squash of goodness knows what variety (presumably from the random seeds I planted from a Lidl squash).

I haven't lifted them off the ground, and hope I won't come to regret that. No slug damage so far. Looking forward to harvesting them in a few weeks.

Meanwhile the onions I lifted last weekend are drying nicely in the greenhouse. Think I'll give them another week in there.

I have also picked lots more tomatillos. The plan was to make a tomatillo stew, but then I fell asleep for most of the afternoon - whoops!

Pulled up my 3 cucumber plants, they were finished growing as far as I was concerned nobody wanted the bloody things.
I pulled out all the nasturtiums in the tunnel, they seem to have been attacked by something, might be spiders eggs as there were loads of small spiders in the beds. Lots of nasturtium seeds everywhere.

         

There was also a strange looking bright green fly that you can see in one of the photos

Dug out the last of my spuds, Maris pipers, purple rain and a few rogue, rooster, Nicola and desiree.

Collected yet more tomatoes, brought some trombas undercover to ripen off for storing, poured the water out of seed trays, I fear the seeds are drowned rather than parched (we're never happy). Started picking pea tendrils and bean stalks off the netting prior to tidying the net and sticks up, it's a fiddly job getting the nets clear but easier done before taking them down. Tidied the first row of chard, stripping off all the dying stuff, pulling out some to give others a bit of room. Perhaps I should have done this in the spring better late than never.

Quick trip to the plot to survey the dismal returns and rampant weeds. Harvested our King Edward potatoes. Had a few berries. Picked some apples. Noted newly forming (but much too late) pumpkins and squashes and courgettes (turns out, they like a bit of water and didn't much enjoy the lack of attention this hot summer). Acted as placeholder measuring device until such time as I remember to take the tape measure to plot or give up hope when the wind blows my sunflower over.

   

Deadheaded flowers then sieved into bags the compost that was cleared from the bottom of this year's bin which has now become the use by 2025 bin. If I ever get round to it, the sieved stuff will be used to make potting mix.

Quite a bit of clearing and weeding today. I disturbed a bees nest at one point (maybe Carder bees) and had to beat a hasty retreat, though they didn't seem overly unhappy with me. The weeds and clearings from today have been piled up to hopefully become composting paths as that will be far more sustainable for me than wood chips.

I've also raised my squash off the ground with a variety of flat stones, a microwave turntable, and various pots. Accidentally snapped one off. It's fully ripe but would have been better on the plant a bit longer and won't store well with the really short stem it now has.

I've also sown a few seeds: winter radishes, a last sowing of summer radishes, calendula, lettuce, and mustard. I have some more sowing to do this Autumn but ran out of time today. I haven't watered them and am just hoping we get some rain in the next couple of days.

Not much today just fed my toms and cucs then weeded the GH borders.

A bit more clearing of Bed 5. I'm going to have to renumber these beds as there have been "changes". May even redraw my Garden plan soon for the 4th time!

Pulled up some sweet peas. Although we have had a bit of rain, the soil they came out of was bone dry. I had been thinking of knocking in a few posts to make a new compost corner but will leave it till the soil is a lot wetter yet.

Picked some raspberries, 6 more courgettes, aubergines, capsicums and some apples. I then tidied up the cabbage patch pulling off a load of dead, milldew and caterpillar eaten leaves, squishing a few caterpillars and then covering with netting.

Tidied up the polytunnel - pulled up finished stuff, covered the bed, emptied out finished pots. Made a lower bench for the fruit plant to move onto so they’re not touching the roof of tunnel.
Saved seeds, sown seeds, pricked out seedlings.